Xcimer Energy announced the completion and successful testing of its prototype electron-beam pumped krypton-fluoride (KrF) excimer laser system, a key component of its laser-driven inertial fusion energy (IFE) architecture. The Denver-based company states this is the first such system built by the private sector and the first constructed by any organization in more than 20 years. In May, the system demonstrated the longest pulse length ever recorded for an e-beam pumped KrF laser, a critical step toward developing a high-repetition-rate, high-efficiency laser driver for a fusion power plant. According to CEO Conner Galloway, the prototype was designed and built in under 11 months, meeting a primary objective of the company's U.S. Department of Energy milestone award. Source: Xcimer Energy

The Xcimer approach utilizes 248 nm deep ultraviolet light from KrF lasers, which contrasts with the solid-state, infrared lasers employed at the National Ignition Facility. The company claims the KrF platform offers superior efficiency, a higher repetition rate, and lower cost, all essential metrics for a commercially viable IFE power plant. These lasers directly excite a lasing medium of krypton and fluorine gas with electron beams, a method that scales to large apertures and high pulse energies. The physics of KrF lasers and their interaction with fusion targets were previously investigated in U.S. government programs, including the Nike laser at the Naval Research Laboratory and the Electra laser at Sandia National Laboratories, which ceased operations decades ago. Source: Xcimer Energy

The company claims the KrF platform offers superior efficiency, a higher repetition rate, and lower cost, all essential metrics for a commercially viable IFE power plant.

This achievement represents a key deliverable for Xcimer's $9 million award under the DOE's Milestone-Based Fusion Development Program, granted in May 2023. The program is designed to de-risk fusion technologies by funding private companies to meet specific technical targets on an accelerated timeline. Tom Mehlhorn, chair of Xcimer's advisory board and a former director at Sandia, affirmed the significance of the result, noting that the prototype's performance validates the company's ability to advance laser technology that has been dormant for years. The successful test provides foundational data for the next stage of development within the private fusion industry. Source: Xcimer Energy

With the prototype system validated, Xcimer plans to scale its laser architecture to a 10 kilojoule (kJ) beamline. This next-generation system will be housed in a new high-bay facility currently under construction in Denver. The company's roadmap involves integrating this more powerful laser module into a system capable of demonstrating the high repetition rates and chamber-clearing technologies required for sustained fusion energy production. The performance of the 10 kJ system will be a critical indicator of the scalability and economic viability of Xcimer's laser-driven IFE concept, a distinct approach within the broader fusion technology landscape. Source: Xcimer Energy